The Gotthard Rail Route(s) – Wassen
A fascinating feat of engineering.
On Friday, I finished walking the part of Route 7 that’s north of the Alps. I was missing the stretch between Wassen and Göschenen. Before I started walking, I took an hour to film trains going up and down through the helical tunnels in Wassen. Every child growing up in 1970s and 80s Switzerland will know the church of Wassen (sChileli vo Wasse). You can see it three different times from the train. Going up you first look up to it, then you’re about level with it, but it is suddenly on the other side of the train and then – once you reach the top – you look down on it. The elevation gain/loss of the route in Wassen is roughly 200 meters (about 660 feet).
If you think of mountain roads with all those switchbacks to make it up and down the mountain, this tunnel system is very similar to that. It made it possible for longer and heavier trains to go faster than they could have done on a cog rail. Also, it’s really cool. I kind of missed the first tunnel that goes around in a full circle when I was walking up. I did notice that the rail line was below me and above me at the same time at some point. Since I had been walking uphill for like 4h at that time, I wasn’t going to stop and think about that. Felt a bit foolish later.
Anyway, below is a picture I found of the tunnel system near Wassen. You can see the church in the middle (German: Kirche). This is where I was standing to film the trains. This is my very first attempt on a video like that. Room for improvement, but I think you get the picture. Watch it here.
As I mentioned before, this route was very important to transport goods and people. It was the shortest route across the Alps. This train route was opened in 1882 and the tunnel that goes from Göschenen to Airolo was the longest rail tunnel in the world at the time. It’s 15 kilometers long (9.3 miles). I will take the train from Altdorf (last joint stop before the respective tunnels) to Bellinzona (first joint stop south of the Alps) and document my journey. The other tunnel being the Gotthard Base Tunnel that is still the longest rail tunnel in the world today. It’s 57.1 kilometers long. It’s at the base of the Gotthard Massif and it takes 20 minutes to make it to the other side.
You might wonder why we needed this new tunnel at the base of the Alps. Well, let’s have a look at the travel time, shall we? It’s pretty much one whole hour faster. For my little adventure I checked travel times from Altdorf to Bellinzona and it’s 1h 45/43 (depending on the direction of travel) on the old route and 35/37 minutes on the new one.
A couple of things to consider if you want to take either of those trains. Seat reservations are advisable for both routes during peak times. The SBB App will show you how busy the train is expected to get. If you’re not comfortable in tunnels, make sure you have something to distract you on the new route. You wouldn’t believe how long 20 minutes can be. I’m usually okay for about 10 minutes and then I need to focus on my breathing, close my eyes and listen to something soothing. I hate it. Hope it gets better with practice as the rest of my walking route is south of the Alps.
Now if you’re taking the panoramic route (on the SBB App it’s called “Gotthard-Panoramastrecke”) you might want to consider hopping off the train in Göschenen and taking another train up to Andermatt. That way you can see the Devil’s Bridge (wrote about it here). It’ll be on your left on the way up. The Devil’s Bridge is also an easy walk back from Andermatt if you have the time. It’s about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile), mostly flat and should take about 20 minutes. You might lose about two hours for this detour, but I’m pretty sure you won’t regret it.
Much more to come as I dive deeper into the history. On Friday’s walk I passed so many fascinating things. There was even a little museum at one point. And this cable booth was especially cute.
This might also be part of a newsletter on power plants along the route and electrification. It’s just all so fascinating. And it’s not like I didn’t know much of this already. It’s just that WALKING along there make all the difference for me.
Hope you’ll follow along. If you have any questions, I’m always happy to dig deeper and/or explain if something was unclear.
This was just supposed to be a quick note to go with the video, but anyway …
Notes:
https://data.sbb.ch/map/anzahl_zuge/?flg=de&location=10,46.6037,9.22028&basemap=00c4d6
"When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer."
Swiss engineering is second to none. I love it that trains are so accessible to you. And if you miss your train, another one is coming. Enjoy the beautiful ride.
My father, his father and grandfather were engineers. While he would have been thrilled if I'd become one (one brother did), he at least gave me a thorough grounding and appreciation for what goes into such accomplishments. Thank you for sharing this as you did, and for another rabbit hole to dive down. :-)